High School Musical 3: Senior Year
High School Musical 3: Senior Year will be the next installment in Disney's popular High School Musical franchise, scheduled for a theatrical release on October 24, 2008. It has been confirmed that Kenny Ortega will return as director and choreographer, and that all six primary actors from the previous two films will reprise their roles.2 Plot Now high school seniors, Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) are facing the prospect of being separated from each other as they go off in different directions. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage an elaborate spring musical reflecting their experiences, hopes, and fears about the future. Cast Zac Efron as Troy Bolton Vanessa Hudgens as Gabriella Montez Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay Evans Lucas Grabeel as Ryan Evans Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth Monique Coleman as Taylor McKessie Olesya Rulin as Kelsi Nielson Ryne Sanborn as Jason Cross Chris Warren Jr. as Zeke Baylor Kaycee Stroh as Martha Cox Alyson Reed as Ms. Darbus Bart Johnson as Jack Bolton Leslie Wing as Lucille Bolton New Matt Prokop3 as Jimmie Zara Justin Martin3 as Donny Fox Jemma McKenzie-Brown3as Tiara Gold Development In February 2007, Disney announced plans for a 2008 feature film sequel with a Halloween theme dubbed "Haunted High School Musical." In September of 2007, Disney announced that they had scrapped plans for the Halloween theme and instead will focus on the senior year of key characters at East High. According to Yahoo news, the original writer from the first two films, Peter Barsocchini, is writing the script for the third part in the High School Musical series. The original producers and director/choreographer Kenny Ortega are also on board. Ortega confirmed this to Access Hollywood. Zac Efron was quoted in People Magazine as saying, "I can tell you that if the script is good and if we all agree on a final script, then there's nothing that is going to hold us back from doing it. We have fun making these movies and that's very rare in this business."4 Rumors persisted of ongoing salary disputes between Disney and the lead performers, particularly Efron. According to Rachel Abramowitz, as reported online by the Chicago Tribune, "An eclectic cross-section of Hollywood insiders think Efron should get a cool $5 million for High School Musical 3, the theatrical version of the franchise, which Disney hoped to make before the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strike shut down Hollywood for several months. Efron declined to comment for the article, and "although contract negotiations still are ongoing, sources say Efron is being offered a salary closer to $3 million, not $5 million, for the follow-up, which focuses on senior year at East High.5 Kenny Ortega, the director of High School Musical and High School Musical 2, stated that pre-production would most likely start in January 2008, and filming would begin in Spring 2008. He stated that the script had been submitted before the Writers strike started and that they were developing music. He added that filming will happen in Salt Lake City, Utah (as the first two films), hinted that the plot will be something of the nature of the Wildcat's final year in High School and stated "it looks like we've rounded up the cast."67 Casting An international casting call went out to find three new sophomore "Wildcats". This resulted in the casting of Matt Prokop, Justin Martin, and Jemma McKenzie-Brown. Commenting on the announcement, Ortega said, “Peter Barsocchini’s exciting script for ‘High School Musical 3’ called for the addition of three sophomore characters, so we set out on a massive casting search across North America and England to find just the right young actors to play the parts. We think these talented performers will bring lots of humor, new twists, and musical fun to the film. Jemma was one of the many young actresses that we met in London, and she impressed us with her singing and dancing, in addition to being very exciting and effervescent. Matt has a terrific personality, and a great sense of comedy and fun. And Justin had a great presence and charisma, besides being a wonderful comedic actor who could really dance. I am confident that the three new actors joining our original cast will help to bring great musical thrills, surprises and a lot of fun to Senior Year and the halls of East High.”3 Vanessa Hudgens photo controversy Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to her nude photo scandal, The Walt Disney Company denied the reports, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."8 Although it was reported by OK! Magazine that Vanessa would be replaced by Adrienne Bailon or Sabrina Bryan from the Cheetah Girls in High School Musical 3,9 Access Hollywood has confirmed that the cast is still in negotiations and Vanessa will not be cut from High School Musical 3. Vanessa's representative quoted, "Totally untrue. It is an old rumor," the representative told Access, "OK! Magazine never bothered to check the fact with me, but they did call Disney who said it wasn’t true, but yet OK! ran it anyway. Apparently, OK! Magazine was having a slow news day."10 Production Anouncements According to documents filed with the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development board (GOED), Utah will again be the setting for HSM3. Shooting is scheduled to begin from April 21, 2008, and is expected to be complete by June 13, 2008. Lisa Roskelly, spokeswoman for Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. said, "third High School Musical will be officially shooting in Utah." According to the Salt Lake City Tribune, "...to help lure the production back to where it all began - at Salt Lake City's East High School - the GOED board Friday approved a maximum $2 million incentive for the production, the largest ever given to entice a filmmaker to Utah."11 The 41 days scheduled for shooting is a longer period than for the first two films.12 Disney has declined comment on whether or not East High School will be used for shooting again, but the school board has revealed they have been meeting with Disney.12 References ^ Wallace, Brice. "Utah Offering $2M incentive for 'Musical 3'", Deseret Morning News, December 15, 2007 ^ Graser, Marc. "'Musical' kids return for 'Senior Year'", Variety, January 14, 2008; name="hollywoodreporter">Kit, Borys. "Gang's all in for 'HSM3' movie", The Hollywood Reporter, January 15, 2008 ^ a b c d International Casting Finds Three Rising Young Talents to play sophomore "Wildcats" Accessed March 26, 2008. ^ Akers, Shelley. "Zac Efron: I'll Make HSM3 'If the Script Is Good'", People, September 3, 2007. ^ Abramowitz, Rachel. "Zac Efron's toughest test: Graduating from 'High School Musical'", Los Angeles Times, September 5, 2007 ^ 'High School Musical' likely to start shooting season three in spring. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. ^ High School Musical Cast Super-duper Confirmed ^ "'Musical' actress apologizes", The Boston Globe, September 8, 2007; Disney Backs 'High School Musical' Star. MSN. Retrieved on 2007-09-08.;Disney backs star after her apology for nude photo. Reuters. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. ^ Curtains for Vanessa's High School Musical. OK! (October 17, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-17. ^ "'Musical' star Hudgens not dumped by Disney", MSNBC, (October 17, 2007). Retrieved December 23, 2007. ^ http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7727475[dead link] ^ a b De Leon, Kris. "High School Musical 3: Official Shooting Date Confirmed", BuddyTV, January 2, 2008 Extra Links Official Site (Redirects to Walt Disney Pictures) Walt Disney Pictures (Description and New Logos) High School Musical 3: Senior Year at the Internet Movie Database